Page 151 of Speechless
“I don’t know. Why?”
A soft purr started. “Last time I checked, you didn’t have a scuba certification. If they’re deeper than snorkel level, you won’t be able to get to them.”
“Oh. Definitely snorkel level. They advertise the reefs for that specifically. Remember that guy last night who gave me a flyer? It was for sunrise snorkeling. That ship has obviously sailed, but I’m sure there’s a tour we can find. Want to come?”
This morning I’d confirmed my thoughts. We were right where weneeded to be for the very first reefs in the restoration project. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
One dark blue eye cracked open and looked at me. “What are the odds of you going whether or not I’m with you, even if you don’t have a camera?”
“High.”
Aiden didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Fine. But if you insist that we get out of this very warm, very comfortable bed, along with the camera, you’ll wear whatever bathing suit I buy you.”
“You want to show me off?”
He smirked. “Something like that.”
We both knew he wanted to stake his claim in any way he could. “I should just let you tattoo ‘property of Aiden Fletcher’ on my ass.”
“Your other Alphas might take issue with that.”
A laugh burst out of me, filling the room. “I love thatthat’sthe thing that makes you pause, not the actual tattoo.”
Aiden rolled me beneath him and tilted my head to the side, kissing my neck. Biting it without breaking skin. “A tattoo showing I own you would be hot asfuck. Maybe one day you can get a tattoo for us as a pack. But there are less permanent options to illustrate how thoroughly our Omega belongs to us.”
He was speaking like this, emphasizing our dynamic, because he knew it turned me on. And focusing on my neck because that’s where a collar would go. He liked the idea and had said as much. “If you think talking about how you own me is going to change my mind about snorkeling, you’re mistaken.”
“If you think I’ve forgotten that I can choose to keep you in this bed and fuck you to my heart’s content, regardless of snorkeling plans, thenyou’remistaken. And I never actually asked you on our date. Would you want that?”
My breath hitched. “A collar?”
“Yes.”
I pushed aside the instinctualyesand tried to think about it through the lens of reality and not fantasy. But the fantasy wasdelicious. “Yes, but not out of the house. Not right now.”
“That can be arranged,” he said. “And here’s the next question. A thought exercise.”
“Okay?”
“Imagine me locking you in a collar, but once that collar closes, it never comes off. It seals together, and the only way it can be removed is for it to be cut off. How does that make you feel?”
The wave of my perfume nearly drowned us both. I shuddered. The permanence of something like that was terrifying, and yet it was what I’d always wanted. A promise that I’dneverbe alone.
But again, this was real life.
Aiden groaned into my skin. “That’s a very good reaction, violet.”
“I think the fantasy of having a collar that never comes off is, in your words, hot asfuck. I also don’t think that’s practical. Same for these.” I held up my hand to show off my hand chains. Today they were silver and had pearls that ran along the back of my hand, though I would probably take them off for snorkeling. “You can make them permanent. There are places that will do it. But I like switching them out for different ones too much to pick a permanent one.” I reached up with both hands and pushed my fingers through his hair. “But I still like the fantasy.”
“You’re right. There are too many situations where having a permanent collar would be dangerous or inconvenient for it to be a real consideration. But your interest does give me some ideas for scenes. Long ones.”
“Like?”
Aiden had been bracing himself so his weight didn’t crush me. But as he spoke, he lowered himself so I felt the full force, and there was no escape. “Like renting a cabin in the middle of nowhere and kidnapping you. Putting a collar on you, metal wrist and ankle cuffs. Pretend they are permanent and that you’re our little slave for a week. Imagine all the things we could do to you when there’s no one around to hear you scream?”
“Most women would find that terrifying.”
“Good thing you’re not most women, huh?”
